Tomato-based foods and tomatoes may reduce risk of damage to the lungs caused by ozone, according to new preliminary findings from research presented on Wednesday at an international scientific symposium ``On the Role of Tomato Products in Carotenoids and Disease Prevention.''
This study andothers presented at the symposium, sponsored by the American Health Foundation, point to a variety of new potential benefits from consumption of tomato-based foods including possible protection against age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and other diseases of the eye.
A pilot study conducted by Drs.
Lenore Arab and Michael Madden, University of North Carolina and James Samet and colleagues at the US Environmental Protection Agency showed a 12 per cent increase in lung lycopene levels and a 20 per cent decrease in oxidative damage to DNA in lung cells within two weeks among individuals who consumed 12-ounce servings of vegetable juice cocktail in addition to supplement vitaminsC and
E.
The results are based on 23 healthy adults who were exposed to ozone for two hours following twoweeks of antioxidant intake, which included one can of V-8 vegetable juice daily or a placebo.
Oxidative stress tothe lungs is associated with high levels of ozone in the atmosphere, one of the damaging impacts of air pollution.
"The latest findings on the benefits of tomato carotenoids, including lycopene, suggest that they may play a role inlung and vision function in healthy people,'' says Daniel Nixon, MD, president of the American Health Foundation, and director of the Foundation's Cancer Center.
"Other studies presented further add to our understanding of the benefits that tomato-based foods may have for protection against cancers in specific organs, such as the prostateand lungs, and more recently to a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.''
The health benefits of tomato products and lycopene, a carotenoid in tomatoes and the pigment that gives tomatoes their red colour, first came to light in 1995 when a Harvard study showed that a reduced risk of prostate cancer was apparent in men who consumed a diet rich in tomato products.
Source: PRNewsire